Small Cut in EU’s Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2016 but Transport Emissions Keep Increasing

(European Environment Agency) Total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (EU) decreased by 0.4 % in 2016, according to latest official data published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Using less coal to produce heat and electricity was enough to make a slight cut in total emissions despite an increase in transport emissions for the third consecutive year.

The EEA’s ‘Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2016 and inventory report 2018‘ shows a 0.4 % decrease in the total EU greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, compared with 2015. From 1990 to 2016, the EU has reduced its net greenhouse gas emissions by 22.4 %, surpassing its 20 % reduction target by 2020. These figures include emissions from international aviation, which are covered by EU targets but not accounted in national totals under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Agency’s Briefing ‘Trends and drivers in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in 2016‘, also published today (May 31, 2018), shows that the emission decrease in 2016 was mainly due to using less coal to produce heat and electricity. Greenhouse gas emissions from road transport increased for the third year in a row. Emissions in the residential and commercial sector also increased because the winter of 2016 was slightly colder than the winter of 2015. READ MORE